Is it common to replace entire cast with no notice?

[LizzieCurry]

SweetLips said: "When did a musical become a play?"

 

When a cast recording became a soundtrack.

[HogansHero]

musicals were plays long before some people stopped calling them that. 

[Dollypop]

Does anyone here recall the thread posted by a supposed teacher who was using BWW as reference material for his grade school classes? Or the gal who wanted to take her boyfriend to a musical because he had gone 6 mos without pistol whipping anyone? They were both full of baloney--as is this op

[SamIAm]

I understand your disappointment but if the usher 'shooed' you, it was only to get to the next person in line. That didn't mean you had to leave. You could have gone to the box office to see what was going on and then made your decision...see the show, get a refund, try to tickets on another day. I don't believe you have to be a Broadway Insider to understand that if you are confused, you should ask a question. 

My second point of confusion relates to what you seem to think is a conspiracy to charge you a lot of money and then bail on the performance. Performers sign contracts. Producers expect them to show up if they can. If there is a planned vacation for a performer whose name is above the marquee, it is usually noted on the ticket site but if someone is sick, or if there is a personal obligation that comes up at the last minute, the cast is allowed to take a day off. They are human. I worked in a regional cast years ago where the flu spread through the cast like wildfire. It happens. 

Respectfully, I wonder why you would pay that kind of money, be that disappointed and just walk away without asking a question, and then seek advice and context from a Broadway chat board. I think we all have to exercise common sense at these times in our lives.    . 

 

[smidge]

I think we scared the OP away. Let's just hope he doesn't have tickets to The Father today.

[Dollypop]

I'm sure the op is a fanboy from some place like Bridgeport, CT who has seen one or two Broadway shows and now lives a fantasy world that consists of himself and his smartphone. 

[HogansHero]

smidge said: "I think we scared the OP away. "

More likely he embarrassed himself away once his exaggerations were laid bare. Being a newbie is also not much of an excuse for failing to realize that the truth has a way of surfacing on the internet in short order.

[Plannietink08]

smidge said: "Plannietink08 said: "You mean you saw a fantastic Broadway show with performers who have been training their whole lives to get on that stage and are incredibly talented plus you didn't get a refund at the end?

 

My heart bleeds for you. 

He didn't even go into the theatre to see the show! 

"

 There is not enough oxygen in the world to for me to tell you how must I just simply can't. I can't. I simply cannot. 

This is what will happen to our lovely theatre culture is Americans let Trump win  

 

"

 

[Jordan Catalano]

That's what people don't understand. If the entire cast is out of the show, Trump has already won.

[LizzieCurry]

smidge said: "I think we scared the OP away. Let's just hope he doesn't have tickets to The Father today."

winner

[JBC2]

I had tickets to the Saturday evening show, too. It was so crowded going in, I didn't  even see the board, but once inside and being handed a Playbill, I was surprised to hear the  ushers asking everyone if they knew Laura and Jane were out. When I said no, the usher politely told me I could go back to the ticket window and request a refund....which I did, as my travelling companions and I had no open dates to reschedule.We ran down 8th and made it in time for Wicked, which one of us had never seen, one of us had seen once before, and for my own protection, lol, I won't  mention how many times  I've  seen it. And, 2 of the 3 leads were out.

[mailhandler777]

^Carrie St Louis is in LA at a wedding so she was out all weekend. That was posted more than once on different sites. No clue about Jonah. I would have loved to see Dan Gleason as Fiyero.

[indytallguy]

HogansHero said: "smidge said: "I think we scared the OP away. "

More likely he embarrassed himself away once his exaggerations were laid bare. Being a newbie is also not much of an excuse for failing to realize that the truth has a way of surfacing on the internet in short order."

Your perpetual priggishness is admirable. Few could keep it up as long and consistently as you.

[astromiami]

The strange thing is that OP was actually a fairly frequent Broadway theatergoer. He has seen by his own account 40 to 60 Broadway plays over the last ten year.

 

I am a frequent theatergoer, but I do not think I have seen anywhere near that number of Broadway productions...and I understood the boards.

[smidge]

But he must have understood a little about an understudy board because he knew some actors were out. What's incredulous is that he allegedly let a $157 ticket go to waste because he couldn't bring himself to express his concerns with anybody at the theatre. Unless he has a major social anxiety disorder, the story is just unbelievable.

[PThespian]

smidge said: "I think we scared the OP away. Let's just hope he doesn't have tickets to The Father today.

 

"

There was someone who came in tonight carrying a Playbill for The Color Purple. I told him it was contraband. 

He said he originally had a ticket for The Father but, once he heard Frank Langella was out, got a refund and ran over to the Jacobs to get a ticket. 

I asked him if Danielle Brooks was in. He said she wasn't, but he didn't mind. He was happy seeing Cynthia, Heather and the rest of the company. 

I'm not sure how often he goes to the theater, but he acted like a logical, rational person. It doesn't seem like the OP did. 

[ashk8177]

indytallguy said: "I don't find the OP to be overly dramatic as others have suggested, and some of the responses here probably increased that person's subsequent defensiveness. And yes, the subject line did the OP no favors since the entire cast most definitely was not out, but still.

If you don't got to theatre very often, you don't necessarily understand the process about understudies and swings, nor do you know that the week after the Tony Award's is often hit or miss for leads. You don't necessarily know to look at Telecharge or other appropriate sites to see if a vacation or other absence notice has been posted since you bought your tickets months ago. You just assume you'll get the show as advertised. Nor do you necessarily know to go to the box office and try for a refund because someone over the title is out.

And if you don't live in NYC or nearby, it is easy to forget that those of us who travel in periodically for shows do often plan months in advance. We also have hundreds if not thousands of dollars involved with flights, hotels, and the like. Maybe the trip and/or the tickets are a gift or a special night out for someone who is a deep fan of one of the performers more than a theatre lover overall.

So joining the board today (which often seems to engender automatic suspicion) and posting a comment that to Broadway or board regulars seems a bit melodramatic and out of touch with how things happen might actually be just what the OP says it is: a frustrated and disappointed patron who was trying to get a sense of what just happened from people who might know.

Before any of us became Insiders, we also were on the outside looking in, not totally clear on how things work. And even insiders can be unsure of things when they find themselves on the outside of a new experience as evidenced in the She Loves Me broadcast thread and all the questions there.

 

I couldn't agree more. I am baffled that people are continuing to take time to bash this person. The person came here seeking information from Broadway fans, and got torn apart instead. I am not defending the entitlement or bad attitude they might have shown, but that doesn't mean we have to stoop to their level (or worse) by calling names and making sarcastic comments. I am disappointed by many of the posts I read that reeked with superiority and snobbery. Just thought I would share a (possibly) different perspective. 

[ArtMan]

If I had been at that performance, I would have been upset also.  2 of the 4 leads out.  Me thinks that many of you who profess to not mind understudies, would have been upset also. Especially if it was your first time seeing the show.  Just saying. ... Give the guy a break.

[LizzieCurry]

I'd be way more lenient if this guy saw, say, two shows a year at a touring house. By what he said before, he set himself up to be more knowledgeable (and less common sense-possessing) than he apparently was.

[KillingTime]

DELETE

[dramamama611]

I'd be disappointed, not upset.  In fact, I've never been upset by understudies.   

It was his irrational handling of the news that got the comments...have you ever stormed out of the theater because of understudies?  I havent.

 

Heck, I even remember having purchased tix to a performers final weekend of shows. Then the producers pulled the actor from performances  for tour rehearsal.  I was disappointed.  Saw both performances anyway.

[HogansHero]

ArtMan said: "If I had been at that performance, I would have been upset also.  2 of the 4 leads out.  Me thinks that many of you who profess to not mind understudies, would have been upset also. Especially if it was your first time seeing the show.  Just saying. ... Give the guy a break."

I did not see anyone castigating the OP for being disappointed. If you reread this thread, you'll see that's not what it is about. The OP came here with an agenda manifest in his/her spot-chosen screen name. Being upset is ok, being a conspiracy theorist is not. Neither is lying. Neither is kvetching about bait and switch while failing to take the basic adult step of complaining and seeking a remedy-a remedy that we now know others obtained. The OP is just a garden variety troll, and trolls get what they deserve around here. This is not a close case, and the OP does not deserve his apologists here. 

[gypsy101]

I called him a loser but I stand by that.

[Talico]

Something similar happened to me last year. I flew all the way from Brazil and, on my first time on a Broadway show (Les Mis), Alfie Boe and Earl Carpenter were out. I found that out only when I was already inside the theater. I was really disappointed but I didn't let that ruin my night. 

By the way, seeing Alfie Boe was one of the reasons for the trip, so I end up doing some changes when I heard that Will Swenson was stepping in and I saw the show again later that week.

[ArtMan]

HogansHero said: "ArtMan said: "If I had been at that performance, I would have been upset also.  2 of the 4 leads out.  Me thinks that many of you who profess to not mind understudies, would have been upset also. Especially if it was your first time seeing the show.  Just saying. ... Give the guy a break."

I did not see anyone castigating the OP for being disappointed. If you reread this thread, you'll see that's
not what it is about. The OP came here with an agenda manifest in his/her spot-chosen screen name. Being upset is ok, being a conspiracy theorist is not. Neither is lying. Neither is kvetching about bait and switch while failing to take the basic adult step of complaining and seeking a remedy-a remedy that we now know others obtained. The OP is just a garden variety troll, and trolls get what they deserve around here. This is not a close case, and the OP does not deserve his apologists here. 

 

"

I don't need to reread the thread.  I do know there were insults hurled at this person for whatever reason.  If he is a troll, or your definition of one, who cares?  Just ignore the thread. I never stated anything about anyone apologizing.  And yes, in his original posts...he was overly dramatic.  But who cares?   I think you live for moments like these.  Maybe when you are finished analyzing everyone else...you can start on yourself.

[JBC2]

Dan was wonderful, as was Ginna as Glinda. No disappointment there!